Sonlez
Sonlez (Luxembourgish: Soller, German: Soller) is a village in Luxembourg.
Location and population
It is situated in the commune of Winseler, in north-western Luxembourg. As of 2006, the village has a population of 47. It is situated between Tarchamps (West) and Doncols (East)
History
The village is located Southeast of Bastogne and is the scene of many battles during the second week of January 1945. Sonlez is attacked by the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 357th Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division (United States) on January 11, 1945, at 14:30PM. The village is liberated on January 12, at about 11:00AM. About 400 German soldiers are captured in the village. They almost all come from the German 5th Fallschirmjäger Division. The Mill of Sonlez (Sollermühle), located South of the village is attacked at noon by the 2nd Battalion of the 357th Regiment. The Americans capture 65 paratroopers from the Fallschirmjäger Regiment 13 of the 5th Fallschirmjäger Division. That Regiment had their command post in the Mill of Sonlez. The commander of the Regiment (Major Goswin Wahl) managed to escape with his staff a few seconds before the attack of the Americans. After the fighting in Sonlez, the 90th Infantry Division (United States) linked up with the 6th Cavalry Regiment (United States) before advancing towards Bras, Belgium.
Linguistic features
Sonlez is known as an historically Walloon-speaking village, similarly to Doncols. Unlike neighbouring Doncols, however, its German and Luxembourgish spellings are identical.
See also
- Doncols#Historical and linguistic backgrounds
Coordinates: 49°58′N 5°50′E / 49.967°N 5.833°E